What Matters In The End
by Chikka Li
Summary: They say Live Your life. She was doing exactly that, He wasnt, he was wasting his. Can she make him see what he's missing out on before its too late and fight evil at the same time? R & R
1. Chapter 1

In The End

In our lifetime we learn how to live for the moment because what matters is what's here and now. We see seasons and time pass us by and we watch friends as they come and goEverything that touches your life matters because it has helped you become who you are and we should be appreciative of it  
One man in particular thought otherwise. He figured, What's the point? You study and learn for most your life, get job of your dreams, create many memories with friends and family and you find a special someone with whom you could spend the rest of your life with…. only to have everything taken away from you… In The End.

Bright lights illuminated the training area of one of the most prestigious families known to the world. The temperature dropped as the mist surrounded the arena clouding the vision of many spectators of the fight that is happening within. Only two silhouettes of men battling each other on a one on one fight could be seen and the sounds of the clashing swords could be heard. Though visibility was low, the crowd kept cheering for one of the men in the battle.

A gust of wind blew most of the mist away, revealing a man with tattered clothing, knocked out cold on the concrete floor. The another man standing with his beloved sword in one hand and a magical paper in the other, had his head facing downwards.

The crowd went wild, sending a loud deafening scream to the victor of the fight. Everyone loved him, his country, his fans, his family and especially the ladies.

_Pathetic…_the man thought looking at his unworthy opponent with disgust and then looked up to the judges of the fight. His piercing amber eyes caught sight of four wise elders in their traditional Chinese fighting clothes, sitting on the grandstand looking unfazed as if they didn't even care at all.

He called back his sword into a pendant and stood crossed arms facing the elders awaiting their decision. His chocolate brown hair swayed to the direction the breeze was blowing and his face looked emotionless, not even a hint of a smile could be seen.

The four elders stood up slowly showing their superiority over him and the rest of the crowd, sending them into silence. The eldest one took a step forward and stared directly into the victors cold amber eyes.

"Syaoran Li... You have been deemed worthy to take the role of the next Li clan leader." The elder said to him with a deep voice and no emotion and walked towards the exit with the other three elders.

Soon after, Syaoran left the arena and went back home to train his martial arts in his secret place, the one place he could get his privacy without anyone bothering him. The moon was full, and the night was calm. He had been practising for almost two hours and decided to take a rest, so he sat down slowly and leaned back on his favourite tree.

The cherry blossom tree was radiating in the moonlight. The petals were free falling onto the ground and sending sweet aromas in the air which was soothing and calming. This was where he came if he wanted to think, and clear his thoughts or to calm down after arguments with his family. It was his escape.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath of the sweet aroma and he could feel some of the soft petals landing gently on him. He loved these peaceful moments to himself.

"Syaoran" a high pitched voice yelled breaking the tranquil atmosphere state he was in. _So much for privacy_ he thought as he stood up and stared harshly at the Ruby eyed girl standing in front of him, with a frown and hands on her hips.

"What do you want Meilin?" he asked in a low toned voice, "How did you know that I was here".

Meilin was unfazed by the coldness of her cousin; she had grown up with him and had gotten used to the constant frowns and glaring.

"I used the Lasin Board duh" she said holding up the board to his face, "Your mother and the elders are at home, waiting for you, saying it's some kind of urgent business"

Upon hearing that, he collected his gear and walked back to his house with Meilin trailing behind him.

When he arrived he was greeted by his mother, who looked very elegant and composed and the four elders, who were standing with their magical staff.

By the look on everyone's faces he knew that it couldn't be good.

"Syaoran…you finally decided join us" One elder spoke annoyed at the fact he had to wait for him. "We have urgent news to tell you, sit down".

Syaoran nodded and sat next to his mother in the meeting room. He examined his mother _She looks worried_ he thought, and stared intently at the direction of the elders.

The Eldest of the elders spoke in his usual emotionless tone. "I will get straight to the point….. An evil force stronger than we can ever imagine has shown up and has been taking every magician's powers from around the world. We don't know when the evil is going to strike or where it's going to show up but what we do know is that if we don't do anything about it, then we will all perish"

"So how can we stop the evil force?" he asked now being serious

"Apparently it is after something….another magician just as strong or even stronger than it." said the youngest of the elder joining into the conversation.

"The evil has taken over almost half the countries around the world but we can feel a powerful evil presence in Japan and that is where we last felt the other magician's aura."

The Third eldest spoke. "We need you as the next leader of the Li clan to defeat that evil force before it brings destruction to the world and to search for the magician it is looking for before evil can destroy him or her"

Syaoran stood up and bowed, "I will not fail the Clan"

"Good" The second eldest replied "Your plane for Japan will leave tomorrow afternoon." All the elders stood up from their seats and bowed to their next leader.

"May you have a safe trip and guidance from our ancestors" they chorused and exited in an orderly fashion out the door.

**Author's Note**: Please be kind, this is my first fanfic. Please Review


	2. Chapter 2

What Matters In the End

Chapter 2

Syaoran stood crossed arms, looking at the closed door the elders exited, deep in thought.

_How can I find the magician if they didn't even tell me what kind of aura they had, trust the elders to leave something important out._ He thought and frowned. They always did this to him, even at the every start of his training; the elders would leave out the important bits and make him find out for himself…. the hard way.

Snapping out of his thoughts, he was about to walk off to his room to start packing when his mother called out his name. Slowly he turned around to see his mother looking at him with a soft expression on her face.

"What is it mother?" He asked not bothering to look at her in the eyes.

Yelan sighed; it really saddened her to see her son like this. Had she ever seen him smile?

"You're almost 21 years of age and without a relationship. Since you're the Li clan leader, you will need a wife by your side."

Syaoran looked at her with a glare. "I don't need a wife or anyone for that matter. I like things just the way they are". He said harshly. He knew she was going to bring this topic up again and slowly he started to walk away from her.

_Enough is enough_ she told herself and walked up to him.

"Do you want to be alone all your life? Don't you want to experience what love is like? Don't you want to see your children grow up and spend time with them?" She asked exasperatedly trying to get her difficult son to listen.

His back was facing her and he lowered his voice, hoping this will be the last argument they had about this topic.

"Love and everything associated with it means nothing to me. I'm not about to waste so many years of my life getting attached to people, only to have them taken away or have a child when their fate is death. I'd rather die and live alone."

With that he walked away so he couldn't hear another word of what his mother has to say, leaving her to stand there with shocked eyes and a sad expression on her face.

"I must be the worst parent in the world" she whispered, and looked out the window at the starry skies. "What happened to you Syaoran?"

_...  
_

Looking outside the jet window, made him feel calm, but something got him thinking and recalled the events that had happened before he left his country.

Flashback

His mother, Meilin and the Elders had come to the airport to see him off even though he specifically asked for them not to come. He walked up to them and bowed to the elders who bowed in return saying nothing. He then walked up to his cousin and his mother.

"Take care alrightt" Meilin said wiping the tears from her eyes. " And come back in one piece". Syaoran may be mean to her all the time but she still cared for him. They were family and had to look out for each other.

Syaoran looked into Meilin's Ruby eyes and nodded. " I will" he said

He then looked over at the direction of his mother and bowed his head in respect, even after their fight yesterday.

" I will miss you son" she said walking closer to him with soft eyes. Reaching into her pockets, she pulled out a blue velvet box and opened it for him. It gave off a tremendous light that was blinding at first but then it died down to reveal a necklace with a baby wolf pendant. What immediately caught his eye was the wolf's body. It was some kind of unbreakable glass, and inside the glass was two colors of liquid swirling around mesmerizing him. It looked like green and pink magic intertwining with each other... like a slow dance.

Yelan took it out of the box and placed it around Syaorans neck. "It was your fathers wish for me to give this to you after you became the Li Clan leader, Its is special and will help you in your time of need...only then will you know the true meaning of this necklace"

_Great, she's starting to sound like the elders. _Syaoran thought and looked closely at the necklace.

"Promise me that you will always wear it" Yelan asked pleadingly.

Syaoran looked at his mother, who was giving a sad smile at the thought of her husband. If it was his fathers wish, then he would respect it.

"Promise" he mumbled and gathered all his luggage and headed towards the jet knowing it that it might be a while till he saw his family again.

Yelan watched him walk away from her... like always and whispered "You will find the way"

End of Flashback

He took out the necklace from his shirt to closer examine it. _True meaning of the necklace?_ _Why the heck does everyone have to talk in riddles? _He thought with a frown and continued to examine the necklace when the voice of one of the flight attendants broke his thoughts.

"Sir we have arrived to our destination" She said with a cheery smile

Quickly putting back the necklace underneath his shirt, he stood up and slowly walked outside the door and stepped foot inside Tomodea Airport for the first time.

The place was buzzing with people, all with happy expressions on their faces. Some were laughing because of remembered memories, some smiling in delight for the people who had come to visit them and some crying tears of joy, seeing their loved ones again.

_I'm starting to hate this town already..._ Looking around the place…all he saw was cheery people and decided that it was too happy for him here so he grabbed his bags and walked outside the airport. Outside was even worse for him as everyone started staring at him, including the ladies and smiling to greet him but all they received was frowns and glares.

_They're all the same…_he rolled his eyes at that thought and continued walking along the path when he heard his name being called.

"Syaoran" he kept hearing. Looking around he tried to pinpoint exactly where the voice was coming from. "Syaoran", they yelled again.

_There_. He looked behind him and caught sight of a well built man not quite his size, but was as tall as him, with dark blue hair, gentle sapphire eyes and glasses on his face waving excitedly at him and a well framed girl beside him with long silky raven hair and shining amethyst eyes smiling.

_Great, _he thought and glared at the man walking towards him.

"Welcome Syaoran, it's been long time..." The man said giving him a smirk, which annoyed Syaoran heaps but keeping his cool, he let out his hand for the man to shake.

"It has Eriol" he said with no emotion.

Eriol smiled over at Syaoran and hook his hand then looked at the girl beside him with a kind smile. "I would like you to meet my girlfriend Tomoyo, Tomoyo this is my cousin Syaoran".

Tomoyo gave him one of her dazzling smiles, one of the ones Eriol fell for, "Nice to finally meet you, Eriol goes on and on about you… I must say you're very handsome in person."

Upon hearing that he gave her a cold glare, trying to get her to back off, but she continued smiling at him which annoyed him even more. "Whatever", was all he mumbled before he grabbed his luggage and walked away from them.

"I told you so" Eriol chuckled grabbing Tomoyo's hand.

Tomoyo giggled, "Cute" she replied and they both caught up to Syaoran, and placed his belongings inside Eriol's car.

**Authors Note:** Whatcha think? Please review


	3. Chapter 3

What Matters In the End

Chapter 3

After being in Tomoeda for a couple of days, Syaoran had almost gotten used to the place. It was very serene and the aromas of the Cherry blossoms made him feel like he was right back at home in his secret spot, underneath the Cherry Blossom tree.

Taking a deep breath in and exhaling loudly, he and Eriol continued walking along the path towards the park.

Syaoran didn't want to waste time and went straight to business training as hard as he could just to be strong enough to defeat this evil force and right now he was no where near as powerful, hence why they were in the park. They were looking for a good place to practise their swordsmanship techniques.

Walking for a little while they finally came across a meadow, just the perfect place for their training. It was quiet, spacious and secluded.

Syaoran and Eriol bowed towards each other and chanted words underneath their breaths. Out of no where two sharp, shining swords appeared in front of them.

Eriol took his sword and positioned himself for a fighting stance. "Just like old times neh, don't expect me to go easy on you" he smirked trying to annoy Syaoran.

Syaoran too grabbed his beloved sword and went to his own offensive stance, face full of serious ness. "Likewise" he replied.

Both charged at each other the same time, raising their swords to an offence position. CLANK, The two swords met and Syaoran looked over at Eriol. He lifted his sword for another attack but Eriol quickly blocked it and quickly he swung his sword towards Syaoran's right side but as if he expected the attack he immediately dodged it.

"I see that you have gotten stronger since we last met" Syaoran said with no emotion in his tone of voice. "Interesting"

"Well I've been training for quite some time" Eriol beamed and returned to another one of his stances.

"But it's still not enough" Syaoran continued as he lunged towards Eriol again, only this time with twice as much speed.

A couple of hours passed by and the boys were still at it, training intently whilst beads of sweat ran down the sides of their faces. They were alone in the park and from far away you can hear the clashing of the two swords and the insults both of them were throwing at each other. Somehow though, they managed to get away from the meadows and entered a small area full of cherry blossom trees without even knowing, till Syaoran looked around. The town seemed to have an abundance of them.

He could feel the petals gently landing onto his head. Looking up, he was standing underneath the biggest and the most beautiful Cherry Blossom tree he had ever seen.

He was beginning to get himself lost in the atmosphere but the chuckle of Eriol brought him back to reality.

Frowning, Syaoran got into his normal fighting stance. "I'm done playing games, it's time to finish this" he said with seriousness in his voice.

Eriol smiled "Okay flower boy" he teased.

Syaoran glared at Eriol... _I'll wipe that stupid smile off your face…_ he said to himself and started running towards him at an incredible pace ………

"AHHHHHH" a feminine voice screamed as she started falling. She was sitting on a branch admiring the view when she lost her balance. Looking down, she was expecting to have a hard impact on the ground, so to ease the pain she closed her eyes tightly and continued to scream. _I'm gonna die…_ she thought and waited for the hard impact to arrive but it never came. Instead she landed on something soft and warm. _HUH? This can't be right?_ She thought and opened her eyes slowly. She looked around and found one of her best friends on the ground laughing hysterically with tears streaming down from his eyes.

"Eriol?" she asked herself confused watching him rolling around. She then looked around to gather her surroundings.

Eriol looked over at the girl who had just fallen out of nowhere and laughed even louder.

_What's so funny about falling?_ She said to herself, but a groan from underneath her broke her thoughts. Slowly looking down, she found herself staring at a boy about her age looking as though he was out of it, and hair filled with cherry blossom petals. She continued to stare at him for a couple of minutes when realisation dawned on her.

"OMG! I'm so sorry" She quickly apologised and stood up, letting all the petals that landed on her fall to the ground.

Syaoran gingerly tired to get up but he fell back down onto the ground. He was too dizzy to stand up straight.

The girl who landed on him felt really bad seeing all his attempts to get up. _No wonder why Eriol was laughing like a Hyena… _she thought as she looked at her friend who was still laughing his head off. Immediately she turned her attention back at the boy on the ground and reach out her hand to help him.

By this time Syaoran was gaining his composure and stopped feeling dizzy. He turned his head and glared coldly at the idiot who knocked him out. That was when Emerald met Amber. The girl in front of him had shoulder length wavy auburn hair, a petite body frame, a light shade of pink on her cheeks and captivating emerald eyes. He had never seen a girl with emerald eyes before in his entire life, and yet there was one staring right at him with a worried expression on her face.

He continued glare at her and shoved her hands away from him.

"Get away from me" he spat out and gained some energy to stand up again. "I don't need your stupid help".

The girl was taken back by his rude attitude and looked sadly towards him.

"I said I was sorry" she whispered staring into those empty amber eyes.

"I don't care" he said walking towards his sword that flew out of his hands and landed near Eriol. Pretending he didn't see his cousin, Syaoran "accidentally" stood on him.

"Owww" Eriol whined knowing Syaoran did that on purpose.

Eriol wiped the tears away from his eyes and chanted for his sword to return back to where it came from. He stood up and walked towards the girl who had fallen on his cousin, trying his hardest to suppress his laughter.

"Hey are you alright….." but before he could finish his sentence, Tomoyo's voice interrupted him.

"SAKURA" she yelled, grabbing both Eriol's and Sakura's attention. Tomoyo was climbing down from the tree Sakura fell from and rushed towards her.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" She asked examining her friend.

Eriol tried his best to suppress his laugh for this long but he couldn't anymore and once again started rolling around the floor holding his stomach laughing like there was no tomorrow.

Tomoyo looked down at her crazy boyfriend and lifted an eyebrow. "Am I missing something?" she asked.

"Syaoran and I were training…HAHAHA….and Syaoran was being all serious and lunged towards me…HAHAHA…. but Sakura fell on top of him before he could… HAHAHAHAHA", Eriol tried to explain but he couldn't help laughing in between. It wasn't everyday that the almighty Li Clan leader gets beaten by a girl and he laughed even more at the thought.

Getting really annoyed that Eriol was laughing at his misfortune; Syaoran summoned forth water and splashed it on him from head to toe.

_Serves you right_ Syaoran said to himself and gave Eriol an evil stare.

"Aww... That was mean" Eriol whined again standing up, his clothes all drenched. This time it was Sakura's and Tomoyo's turn to laugh.

Being all serious, Eriol walked over to Sakura. "Are you alright Sakura?" he said finally finishing his sentence.

She gave him a smile and nodded her head.

"Well I guess that's one way to make an entrance" Tomoyo joked and smiled towards Sakura also.

"Oh Yeh" Eriol remembered, "You guys haven't officially met, Sakura this is my cousin Syaoran, Syaoran meet one of my best friends Sakura." he introduced.

Sakura looked at Syaoran and by the glare he was giving her she already knew she had blown her first impression. _Well maybe we could become good friends_ _and I can try to make up for almost squashing him to death. _She told herself.

"Good evening Syaoran" she smiled nervously.

Syaoran stoped his glaring and gave her a look of disgust and immediately turned his back on her and walked away without even saying a "Hello" or a "Goodbye".

_Yup, we're going to be great friends_ she sarcastically told herself. Feeling a bit down, she felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about him." Eriol said giving her a smile, "he's always like that, you'll get used to it eventually".

Sakura smiled back at her friend. "Thanks" she whispered, "I feel a whole lot better".

**Authors Note: **Thank you to everyone who reviewed, I greatly appreciate it. Please tell me what you thought of this chapter and continue reviewing.

Always Chikka


	4. Chapter 4

What Matters In the End

Chapter 4

Today was a beautiful day, the sun was shining brightly, the birds were singing their morning songs and the temperature was warm and breezy. It was a perfect start for the first day of college.

Tomoyo and Sakura had woken up early today especially because of Sakura's habits of always getting up late but today Sakura didn't mind being deprived of an hours worth of sleep as today was the starting of something important.

They were walking along the streets making their was to college, when Sakura couldn't contain her excitement any longer and started skipping and twirling catching the attention of many passer bys, especially the guys.

"Tomoyo can yo believe it... this is our last year of college" she beamed "And you know what that means?"

Tomoyo couldn't help giggle at her best friend, the excitement in her eyes and the happiness in her expressions; she loved the way Sakura enjoyed life.

"What? What does that mean?" she asked.

Sakura's smile grew wider, "It means no more studying for the rest of our lives!"

Tomoyo laughed at Sakura_, Some things never change_. "I hate to burst your bubble missy, but we still have to survive the year"

Sakura poked her tongue out towards Tomoyo, "Hehehe I know, but im just so excited" she replied and linked her arms with Tomoyo's and together they continued making their way to college.

When they arrived they grabbed their timetables and went to look for their class.

"Hey Tomoyo, can I take a look at your timetable?" Sakura asked as they walked inside their class room. They were pretty early and not many students had arrived yet, but Sakura failed to notice the ones that were in their seats.

"Sure" Tomoyo handed her timetable to Sakura.

Sakura held the piece of paper in front of her face and closely examined the timetable, and then her eyes lit up.

"Hey Tomoyo we've got all the…" she was saying as she slowly lowered the piece of paper down only to be met with a pair of glaring amber eyes. "Same classes together…" she continued her sentence less enthusiastically.

_What a welcome_ she thought and scratched her head in nervousness.

Tomoyo smiled and ushered her friend over to the table next to hers with the word Kinomoto on it, and much to her discomfort in front of Syaoran.

Nervously, Sakura sat down and tried to avoid the cold vibes Syaoran was sending.

Eriol couldn't help but chuckle at this sight, "Good Morning Sakura" he greeted.

Sakura didn't notice him sitting behind Tomoyo when she walked in. She brushed off her nervousness and faced Eriol. "Good Morning Eriol" she replied smiling and continued smiling when she turned to face Syaoran. "Good Morning Syaoran"

Syaoran crossed his arms and looked away from her. "Don't talk to me" he replied in a cold voice.

Sighing, _This is going to be one of the best years ever…_she told herself and faced the front waiting for the teacher to start their last year of college. _I can just feel it. _

………

The first week of college passed by pretty quickly for Sakura, Tomoyo and Eriol and they were content with it. They had made new friends, the girls continued being popular with everyone including the guys and the college work was pretty easy for them to handle.

Syaoran, however couldn't care less, he was though, annoyed at the attention he got with the ladies who their first lines to him was "You're the rich Li clan leader" or "Your hot, would u go out with me?"… To him they were nothing but high standard gold diggers but that wasn't all that annoyed him either. It was the fact that he was stuck with that idiot cousin of his and his stupid girlfriend and also the bimbo klutz, in every class and in the same seating positions for everything. It was like torture.

It was a Friday night and he was standing on his balcony, in an apartment he and Eriol lived in, scanning the town for any traces of evil magic or even the magician the elders were looking for… but to no avail.

_You'd think with powers as strong as those two, you can at least sense some kind of aura; _he thought and continued to scan the town.

"Any luck?" Eriol asked walking to the balcony and stopping next to him.

Syaoran shook his head. "Have you sensed anything strange in town before I got here?"

Eriol thought for a moment, "No I haven't, but you did say they were after people with magic right?" he asked.

"Yeh, so tell everyone you know with magic to be on guard" Syaoran replied in a serious tone. "Also..." but before he could finish his sentence, the ground started shaking violently for a minute or so and then it stopped.

"What the hell was that?" Eriol asked getting up.

"I don't know," Syaoran replied, who also stood up and looked over at the town. The trees were slightly tilting. "Do earthquakes happen often here in Japan?" he asked facing Eriol.

Eriol turned around and shook his head, "No I don't think so".

It was quiet for a moment when the earthquake came again this time twice as powerful. Some buildings fell down to the pressure, people on the streets were screaming trying to find shelter and everything in their apartment shook and fell, breaking into little pieces. The both of them were going to rush inside trying to save some valuable ornaments but the balcony gave way leaving the both of them to stumble forwards and fall.

They were going to fall hard into the ground and have a concrete balcony land on top of them, which will most likely kill them instantly, but using their quick reflexes and training they used their magic to get away and land safely onto the ground away from the falling concrete.

Syaoran frowned; this was no ordinary earthquake, as he can sense some kind of evil presence lurking around.

"Eriol can you feel it?" he asked calling out his sword.

"Yes it's quite powerful" Eriol replied and took out his own sword. He closed his eyes to try and pinpoint the exact location the presence was. It took him a while though but he found out where it was and suddenly his face grew pale. _Hell NO! _

Syaoran noticed this "What? What's wrong? Where is it?" he asked a tiny bit concerned at his cousin.

Ignoring Syaoran, Eriol quickly made a dash towards the direction of where he felt the evil aura, concerned and worried that if he didn't get there something terrible might happen.

Syaoran became confused at his cousin's behaviour but soon trailed behind him.

Eriol came to a stop infront of a white cosy house surrounded by a beautiful garden, but due to the earthquake it was more of a wreck then a garden. There infront of the house stood a dark figure, and upon seeing this he started to grit his teeth. It was tall man with dark brown hair, blood stained eyes and was wearing cameo clothes, beside him was two figures wrapped around in vines and branches.

"Put the girls down" Eriol demanded and prepared himself for a fight. He looked towards Sakura and Tomoyo. They were struggling to get out, and he could see that they wanted to say something or scream but the vines covered their mouth.

The figured just laughed at him and raised his hand. Sakura and Tomoyo were lifted up in the air and a sudden green light appeared through the vines.

When Syaoran had finally caught up to Eriol, he was out of breath. He took a look at his surroundings and finally realised why Eriol had ran so fast. He took a stance beside him.

"I see you've finally come Syaoran" The enemy said and looked towards him.

Syaoran was taken back, _What the hell?_ he thought and sent him a glare. "How do you know me?"

"I just do" The guy evilly smirked "The names Miko" he told him and closed his fists.

The vines Sakura and Tomoyo were trapped in tightened and started to drain their energies away. They put up a good struggle at first but soon became tired and still.

"Bastard!" Eriol yelled and lunged towards Miko with full force, but Miko saw the attack coming and he countered it by throwing rocks towards him.

Eriol was quick enough to dodge the first few but he hadn't anticipated some, which had hit him to the side of the body and his head.

"Argh" Eriol yelled in pain, collapsing on the foot path.

Syaoran became furious now and raised his sword to stab Miko, but was held back by a couple of vines and was thrown to the ground, hard. He tried to get up again but some kind of magical force was holding him down. He was getting even more furious that one guy could be so powerful. He looked towards the helpless girls. _What the hell does he want with them?_ he asked himself, and faced Eriol, who was now knocked out cold. _This cant be good._

"Mwahahaha, You two boys are no match for me" Miko laughed and continued to drain Tomoyo and Sakura's energy.

Sakura felt so tired and weak and wanted to just go to sleep but she couldn't. The situation for the four of them didn't look too good. She turned her head to face to Tomoyo, who was limp and her eyes were drooping ever so slowly. The vines that covered their mouth disappeared and Tomoyo stared over at Sakura. "Sorry" she whispered and fainted.

"No, Tomoyo please hold on" She cried, then looked over at the guys who were on the ground. Eriol really didn't look too good, as blood was sliding from the side of his unconscious body and Syaoran looked immobilized and pained. She then looked over at the town. It was in wreck and even from here she could hear the cries of everyone.

_I have to do something, If not…If not then...No I will not think that way, _she spoke to herself and little by little she started to gain some inner strength. She started to glow a little and muttered a few words underneath her breath, catching the attention of a certain amber eyed boy.

As soon as she finished muttering the spell the whole town seemed to have frozen. Glancing down she saw Syaoran staring at her, and she weakly smiled a little.

_Syaoran can you hear me? _She said telepathically

Syaoran recognised the voice and nodded in surprise.

_Good, I don't know how long I can freeze time, but attack him now Hurry! _She yelled.

Syaoran nodded again seeing as this was the only chance to take Miko out, so he made a run towards his sword. Grabbing it, he called out the wind to lift him so he was levelled with Miko.

"This is for you Bastard" Syaoran said in seriousness and slowly pierced the sword through Miko's chest making sure he can feel the after affects.

Sakura soon ran out of energy and time started to unfreeze again.

When Miko awoke he came face to face with a frowning Syaoran and he looked down and saw that he had been stabbed. What was surprising though was that no blood came out.

"Clever little trick Sakura" Miko said knowingly. _Master knew you'd do something like that _he told himself.

His body was starting to disappear and he said his final words. "There are more of us out there, some even stronger than I" he whispered to Syaoran, and gave a smirked at him.

"My boss knows what you are trying to do…." With that he disappeared into thin air and along with him, the vines that had surrounded the city, mending the fallen buildings and houses, also the damages of the earthquake were reversed and everything was as good as new. No one was hurt and everything was back to normal.

The vines that were holding the girls captive gently placed them to the ground, right beside Eriol. Seeing this, Syaoran rushed to the three of them to see the injuries.

He came to Eriol first, examining if he was okay and alive whilst Sakura sat up and checked on Tomoyo who was sleeping soundly. Sakura knew Tomoyo was drained of most of her powers and was very weak so she gently took Tomoyo's hand and transferred some of her remaining magic to her. She was so exhausted now, but she was curious about Syaoran. Tilting her head slightly to the side she watched in fascination as the cold Syaoran checked his cousin's pulse and ripped of his sleeves and wraps it around the wounds.

_So he does have a kind side to him,_ she thought and continued to watch him with a weak smile.

Once Syaoran finished bandaging Eriol, he walked up to Sakura, and gave her a solemn look. Sakura was confused at first, till he started talking.

"So you and Tomoyo have powers?" he asked in a monotone voice.

Sakura nodded in reply.

Syaoran crossed his arms and turned his back on her. "Stay out of the way, both of you girls will only be a burden to us all" he harshly told her and walked back to Eriol.

Sakura was shocked to hear those words, and it hurt her, but she should have expected it from him.

She looked at his retreating form and sighed. "Got it" she whispered and looked away to face Tomoyo with a little tear escaping from her eye. _So much for that kind side _she thought and wiped away that single tear.

**Author's Note:** Well that's another chapter done, please tell me what you thought about it. Syaoran sounds pretty mean doesn't he? Don't worry though he'll eventually be nicer as the story progresses.

Stay tuned for the next chapter.

Always, Chikka


	5. Chapter 5

**What Matters In The End**

**Chapter 5**

Sakura was in another world today, she loved college she really did but she couldn't help but pay more attention to the window than the teacher.

Resting her head on her hand, she continued to watch outside as the rain started to pour down more heavily, making the temperature colder than usual and she sighed knowing that there was someone behind her giving her an evil look.

It had been a couple of days since the Miko incident and since Syaoran had told her off. Yeh it hurt her at first, but she didn't want to waste time thinking about the negatives in life and brushed it off. She was more intrigued about who Miko was and why he was here, in Japan.

She was glad that Syaoran, Eriol and Tomoyo were okay and doing well after what Miko had done to them. Without them noticing, she had cast a non traceable healing spell on all of them, hence the reason why she was so tired today.

Slowly closing her eye lids, she was drifting off to sleep, when a paper ball hit her hard at the back of her head.

She awoke instantly and with tired eyes, turned around knowing fully who the culprit was.

"What was that for Syaoran?" she asked throwing the paper ball back at him.

Syaoran gave her a glare. "Owww that hurt" he sarcastically replied and opened his book.

"The teacher wants us to solve some problems…and I was partnered up with you" he said with hate.

Sakura stared at him with a confused expression on her face; they were given problems to solve? Looking around, she noticed everyone was in pairs working, and she noticed that Tomoyo and Eriol were at the other side of the room, chatting away.

She blushed in embarrassment and gave a soft giggle facing towards Syaoran.

"What is so funny?" he asked giving her a clueless look and he raised his eyebrow.

Sakura had to do a double take for a moment at the expression on his face, but she grabbed her books and turned to face him again.

"It's nothing" she replied with a smile and covered her mouth to yawn, "So what are the problems we have to do?"

Annoyed that she should have been listening, he banged his notebook on the desk in front of her. Sakura was startled a bit, but shook it off and stared into the book.

"Ummm what do we have to do?" she asked nervously looking at all the numbers and letters which were slowly jumbling up in her mind.

Syaoran sighed in frustration. "Next time, bloody pay attention" he scolded and grabbed his pencil, "We have to balance out these chemicals and then we have to experiment."

He said pointing the beakers and Bunsen burners.

Sakura nodded, showing that she understood what he was saying and went straight to work.

It took them a while, but they had finally finished the equations. Well, Syaoran finished it, seeing as Sakura missed out on the lesson the teacher gave to them, explaining how to figure the equations out.

Syaoran had to teach her from scratch and was stating to get really annoyed at her constant questions on how to do this and that when he had already explained it to her a thousand times. To him it was like talking to a brick wall.

Sakura did her best to listen to him, and she knew he was getting frustrated at her but she couldn't help it, she just wasn't with it today.

She looked into Syaoran's amber eyes, "Thank you" she said as she got up and walked into the laboratory.

Syaoran stared at her retreating figure confused. _Thank you for what?_ He asked himself.

He too got up from his seat and headed towards the laboratory.

They put on their safety goggles, gloves and a white lab coat, making them look like professional scientists.

He sat down beside her and leaned back onto the table behind him. He had decided since he mostly did all the hard work she can do the chemical mixing. Nothing could go wrong if she had been listening to him.

Sakura walked in front of the table so she could clearly see what she was doing.

The labels on the chemicals weren't marked so she didn't know which chemical was which. There were 4 beakers filled with 4 different coloured liquids.

She looked over at Syaorans direction only to see him leaning casually on the table.

"Aren't you going to help?" she asked taking off her safety glasses, so she could see him better.

He gave Sakura a cold look "No, why should I? I did most of the other work, it's your turn to do some" he replied and stared off into space.

"But I don't know which chemical is which?" she said pouting, putting hands on her hips.

Syaoran shrugged "That's your problem:"

Sakura scrunched her face at him and put her glasses back on. _ Fine, I can do this myself. I'll show you, _she spoke in her mind and grabbed the beaker with the red liquid and emptied it onto a bigger empty beaker.

Syaoran, though he pretended he was looking away, watched as she confusedly took the red beaker and poured it into a bigger one. He then saw her reach for the blue one and added it with the red. She looked serious, and the look of concentration on her face said it all.

He kinda expected her to blow up the place but so far, so good.

He then watched her as she was having a battle within herself, on which chemical goes next. Honestly he didn't know what to do with the chemicals either but didn't want to admit it. _Better her making a fool of herself than me, _he told himself and continued to watch her.

Sakura grabbed the beaker with a clear liquid in it and poured it with the others. The liquids she had just mixed turned yellow and clear. She smiled to herself thinking that she had done the experiment well but when she looked down, the yellow liquid was now starting to bubble, "Uh oh" she said aloud grabbing Syaorans attention.

He looked at her and saw what she was looking at. Her experiment was bubbling fast and steam was arising from it.

"DUCK" he yelled to everyone loudly, and covered himself. The others who were inside the room took cover as well.

The beaker exploded, sending broken glass flying everywhere across the room and smoke surrounded the area.

Everyone soon got up and checked if they were still in one piece. Eriol checked over Tomoyo and asked if she was okay. She nodded her head and looked over at the direction the mini explosion came from.

"You stupid idiot" yelled Syaoran getting up and brushing off the broken glass that had landed on him. "You could have killed us all".

Sakura got up also, not noticing that her hand was bleeding.

"Well if you would have helped me, maybe this wouldn't have happened" she shot back this time trying to give a glare of her own, but it wasn't working.

"Well you should have been listening to the teacher" he finished. He knew he got her there.

Sakura stopped arguing because he was right, but she wasn't going to tell him that though.

She turned around to look at her class mates, thankfully there were only 6 of them in the room.

"Im sorry, are you guys okay?" she said to the two students over by the door. The students gave her a kind smile, "Don't worry about it Sakura" the long brunette haired one said. "I've done it heaps of times".

Sakura smiled back, "Thanks" she replied and turned her head towards Eriol and Tomoyo.

"Are you guys alright?" She asked clasping her hands together.

Eriol chuckled, "Yeh we're fine, how bout you?. Wait your hand is bleeding" he started to panic.

Tomoyo seeing this immediately made her way to Sakura, making sure she didn't step on any of the glass. She grabbed her hand and took her to the taps, washing the blood away.

"Next time when we're doing an experiment, warn us first before you mix any chemicals" she teased, wrapping a bandage around Sakura's wound.

Sakura nodded and gave her a hug. "Thanks Tomoyo" she replied. She was grateful to have friends who were always there to cheer her up. They made her day alot better.

Syaoran rolled his eyes at the sight and turned away to face Eriol. They both started clean the mess that Sakura had made. He felt just a tinge of guilt for not helping her when he knew she was somewhere else in her mind.

For the rest of the day, Sakura took things easy. She went to sleep in some of the classes, but the teachers didn't mind if it was just for today since she was a valuable student. They could see how tired and exhausted she was. No one had a clue exactly why she was like this, including her friends. They just thought it was because Chemistry class took alot out of her.

Outside the rain had stopped, and the afternoon sun shone brightly.

Sakura sat on a dry bench underneath the old oak tree behind the college campus by herself, during her lunch break. She looked around to see if there was anyone in sight and while no one was looking, she chanted her healing spell on her injured hand and before you know it, the cut was gone.

"Handy trick" Syaoran said jumping off the branch he was resting on.

Sakura jumped in fright, and looked at the amber eyed man in front of her. She laughed nervously.

"Hehe Syaoran... How long have you been up there?" she asked putting her hands behind her back.

Syaoran stared at her with no emotion. "Long enough to see you heal your wound" he said and started to walk closer to her "I'm not stupid you know. You used that same healing spell on me."

Sakura's eyes widened, "How did you know I used one on you?" she said coolly trying to get him off the scent.

He stopped infront of her, crossed his arms and looked into her emerald eyes, making her shudder underneath his gaze. "Because I can sense it"

"But it's a non traceable spell" she told him and put her hands to her waist.

Syaoran continued to stare into her emerald eyes, but this time giving her a cold look.

"Im trained to sense these types of things, while Eriol and Tomoyo aren't".

Sakura opened her mouth to answer back, but a husky male voice interrupted her.

"Sakura" a male voice said, beside her.

Slowly she turned around to face the man, and when she did her emerald eyes opened in shock, and she froze right there and then on the spot. She became silent and trembled just a little.

Syaoran glared at the man for interrupting their important conversation. He sceptically examined him, and then looked towards Sakura. The expression on her face was one different to the one he saw a minute ago. She looked as though she was sad, pained and hurt, scared even.

_Who the hell is this guy?_ Syaoran thought, and gave him another glare. His cold amber eyes met with ruby coloured ones.

**Author's Notes: **Hola! Sorry for the short chapter. I have noticed in my previous chapters that Sakura and Syaoran haven't talk much to each other, so I made this chapter especially for them.

R&R

Always Chikka


	6. Chapter 6

What Matters In The End

Previous Chapter:

"Sakura" a male voice said, beside her.

Slowly she turned around to face the man, and when she did her emerald eyes opened in shock, and she froze right there and then on the spot. She became silent and trembled just a little.

Syaoran glared at the man for interrupting their important conversation. He skeptically examined him, and then looked towards Sakura. The expression on her face was one different to the one he saw a minute ago. She looked as though she was sad, pained and hurt, scared even.

_Who the hell is this guy?_ Syaoran thought, and gave him another glare. His cold amber eyes met with ruby coloured ones.

…

Chapter 6

Syaoran continued to glare into his ruby coloured eyes. There was just something about them he didn't like. So he crossed his arms to show his superiority.

Sakura however stood still, not knowing that to do or say to the man in front of her. She was face to face with her old flame and emotions she thought she left behind a long time ago came to the surface. She was scared to look at him but she examined him closely.

He looked more mature since she last saw him. He was more built and tanned but he still had the same dark brown hair and the same shade of ruby coloured eyes. She remembered how she loved those eyes. It reminded her of the shade of flowers he used to give her every morning before they went to school.

He gave her a kind smile, "It's good to see you again" he said walking closer to her and eventually stopping centimetres away.

She remained silent and continued to look at him, shuddering underneath his gaze.

Syaoran looked over at Sakura's direction again, and saw that she looked very uncomfortable.

"Dude, I don't think she's in the mood for talking" he harshly told the ruby eyed man. He may be mean but he was brought up with manners.

The guy looked at him. "I don't think that this concerns you" he said giving him a look of his own.

Syaoran didn't budge at his stare, and the both of them continued to look evilly at each other, sending off sparks.

"Hey Sakura we got invited to a party" yelled a happy and bouncy Tomoyo who was running towards her best friend in the other direction.

She got to the other side of Sakura, and noticed that she didn't seem herself. Confused she looked over at Syaoran who was frowning at someone. She followed his gaze, over to the other side of Sakura. She tilted her head slightly because Sakura was blocking her view and from the moment she saw the ruby eyed man, her eyes filled with anger and hate. She quickly stepped in between Syaoran and Sakura and held onto Sakura for moral support.

"Darren" she spat out, "What the hell are you doing here?" Her voice seemed to be a lot harsher than her usual sweet voice.

Syaoran looked over at Tomoyo in surprise. He would never have expected for Tomoyo to be like that. She would be one of the last people in the world he'd expect that kind of attitude from.

Darren looked over at Tomoyo unfazed by her tone of voice but he could see why she would act like that. He didn't want to start an argument and make things worse for him.

"I'll be filling in for a teacher in this college for a little while", he softly spoke to her.

Sakura's grip on Tomoyo's hand tightened. Tomoyo immediately put her arm around Sakura's trembling body and took her aside.

"Shouldn't you be in jail or something" she angrily told him, continuing to be mean.

She had just hit one of his soft spots and little anger rose within him but he quickly shook it off when Eriol arrived to the scene and stood on the other side of Sakura for reassurance.

Syaoran could feel the tense atmosphere the four of them were giving out. He looked at all their serious expressions. He was obviously missing something important.

"Im a changed man now"he said looking sincere to the three in front of him "and I came here to make it up to you guys,"

Tomoyo gave him a glare. "Im sure you are" she snorted and then softly looked over at Sakura, who had been very quiet all this time. "Come on Sakura, Let's go home".

Sakura looked at Tomoyo with a thankful smile and nodded, but before she left she gave Darren one quick nod of the head and walked away leaving him with the guys.

Eriol waited for the two girls to leave before punching Darren straight in the face full of anger and disgust. He couldn't let the girls see what he was about to do.

Darren didn't expect the punch coming, and doubled back, landing flat on his backside.

"That was for Sakura" he said fiercely, and stood on top of him making sure he could feel his weight. "This" he said punching him in the same place on the face, opening up a wound "is for Tomoyo", "and this" he lifted his fist in the air to try and punch him one more time but Syaoran held him back.

"Eriol, enough" Syaoran said dragging him away from Darren.

Darren was copping a beating badly and Syaoran felt just a tinge bad for him. Eriol sure could pack a punch.

"No, let me go" Eriol yelled and wriggled his way out of Syaorans strong arms.

He tried to rush over and hit Darren again but Syaoran was too quick and stronger for him and held him back. It was a good thing no one was around or else they would have a lot of explaining to do.

Darren got off the ground and wiped the blood coming from his mouth. He wasn't angry, No… "I guess I deserved that, and I've learnt from my mistakes. Im a changed man Eriol" Darren told him, bowing and turned to walk away.

"Darren" Eriol's voice came serious and threatening.

Darren stopped in his spot, but didn't turn around.

"Stay away from the girls, and if I see you trying anything on them you'll wish you were never born" his voice came low.

Once he heard Eriol's threat, Darren gave a nod and walked away.

Eriol sighed as he watched Darren's retreating figure, "Come on, we may as well head off home as well".

Syaoran looked at Eriol. Everyone seemed to be surprising him today. He just couldn't believe Eriol would go lose his temper and punch a guy, Tomoyo turn all mean and evil and Sakura not smiling and being her cheery self.

"What was that all about?" He asked wanting to know the reason for everyone's abnormal behaviour. "I've never seen you three out of character since I've been here".

Eriol looked away in disgust. "Darren and Sakura were dating at one stage. Sakura was happy and she loved him so much, but one day he changed. The nice, caring, gentle Darren turned into an abusive Darren, hitting Sakura when he felt like it."

Syaoran frowned when he heard this. He hasn't even spoken or got to know Darren and he hated him already.

"Offcourse I wasn't there to help protect her or Tomoyo. I was over in England helping my family. Tomoyo did tell me that she'd come to school sometimes with bruises on her, and when she asked Sakura what happened, she just told her that it was nothing. She was defending that bastard. Even though he'd hurt her so much, she didn't want anything bad happen to him." He continued, staring off into the distance.

"What? So Sakura protected that jerk?" Syaoran asked disbelieving what he was hearing.

"Yeh, she's too nice for her own good." Eriol replied and his face started to look angry.

"One day, when he got really mad at Sakura, he started to hit her till she was bloodied and bruised. Tomoyo was there at the time and Darren ended up turning on her as well."

He clenched his fist tightly.

"Tomoyo didn't give me the details, but when I had arrived, Darren was in jail and the girls were in counselling. I wanted to kill the bastard, but I couldn't. It would have hurt Sakura even more if I did".

"The girls pretended everything was okay, and said that they were fine. But I know they're not." Eriol looked over at Syaoran with sad eyes.

Syaoran stared back at him not knowing what to say. Darren was a jerk. _If that idiot ever gets in my way, I won't be as kind as the girls. _ He told himself disgusted at the man's behaviour.

"It's a good thing the girls decided to go home instead of going to the last class, I'm not really in the mood to learn anymore today" Eriol walked towards the front college gates to where the girls may be, followed by Syaoran.

….

Everyone had skipped their last class and decided to go home. Darren had ruined the mood for them. _Why show up now?_ Tomoyo asked no one in particular. _Just when everything was going fine, just when she got over you._

She was worried for Sakura. Since they had come home she spent most of her time in her room and never went out. It was understandable that she would do that, since she did have one of the worst days anyone could have.

She walked up the stairs and down the hallway to Sakura's white and pink bedroom door and softly knocked on it.

"Come In" yelled a sweet voice from behind the door.

Seeing as that was an invitation to go in, she opened the door and walked inside.

The sight in front of her truly made her worry about her friend. There was soft music that was playing in the background and Sakura was dancing across her room, air drumming. _Sakura never listened to this type of music and surely she doesn't air drum. _

Tomoyo looked at Sakura with raised eyebrows and thought that her friend had gone insane, watching her dancing and drumming around the room.

"Sakura, how are you feeling? Are you okay now?" she asked worriedly

Sakura stopped what she was doing and looked over at Tomoyo with a smile. "Offcourse I am, why wouldn't I be?"

_Sakura…_Tomoyo knew she was hiding her feelings and sadly looked at her. She decided to let the matter go, since her friend obviously didn't want to be reminded of it.

"I don't know, I was just asking" she shrugged and sat down on Sakura's bed.

Sakura joined her. "Hey Tomoyo" she spoke sitting with a grin on her face.

"Yes, Sakura"

"What's happening with the party? Whose is it, and when is it happening?" Sakura asked. She was really excited about this party. It had been a long time since they've been to one.

Tomoyo stared at her. Sakura seemed to be really cheerful about the whole party thing.

"Sharna's party is happening next Saturday but I don't think we should go". She told Sakura who immediately put a cute frown on her face.

"Aww , Why not? We've been working hard since college started. We need a good break. Please Tomoyo" Sakura pleaded pouting her lips and giving her another one of her puppy dog eyes.

"That doesn't work on me Sakura" Tomoyo replied turning her head so she couldn't see Sakura's face. Sakura however moved to face her again and gave her the same look.

"Please, Please" she begged.

"Argh , alright alright, just stop it with that face. I hate it when you do that." Tomoyo replied throwing her arms in the air defeated.

"Yay thanks Tomoyo" Sakura squealed and jumped on her bed grabbing Tomoyo's hands so she could join her.

"On one condition though" Tomoyo interrupted.

Sakura stopped jumping on her bed and looked over at Tomoyo. "What's that?" she asked.

Tomoyo gave an evil grin. "I get to choose your outfit".

Sakura sweat dropped gave a weak laugh, but soon smiled. _She's at it again. _"Okay but nothing revealing" Sakura told her.

Tomoyo looked innocently at her. "Offcourse not" she replied.

Sakura held onto Tomoyo's hand once again and started to jump on her bed. "YAY we're going to a party" she cheered.

….

Outside a figure in black stood on a tree branch watching the girls who were unaware of his presence. "I'll see you there Sakura" the figure whispered to no one in particular. He grabbed his cape and swung it around his body. Smoke filled the area and soon he disappeared.

"I'll see you there…."

….

**Author's Notes:** So how was it? I bet you didn't expect that from Eriol did you. Please Review and tell me what you thought of the chapter.

Stay Tuned...

Always Chikka


	7. Chapter 7

What Matters In The End

Previous Chapter:

Tomoyo gave an evil grin. "I get to choose your outfit".

Sakura sweat dropped gave a weak laugh, but soon smiled. _She's at it again. _"Okay but nothing revealing" Sakura told her.

Tomoyo looked innocently at her. "Offcourse not" she replied.

Sakura held onto Tomoyo's hand once again and started to jump on her bed. "YAY we're going to a party" she cheered.

….

Outside a figure in black stood on a tree branch watching the girls who were unaware of his presence. "I'll see you there Sakura" the figure whispered to no one in particular. He grabbed his cape and swung it around his body. Smoke filled the area and soon he disappeared.

"I'll see you there…."

…

* * *

Chapter 7 

The Saturday night had arrived and Tomoyo and Sakura were in Sakura's room getting ready. The girls had been waiting for this party the whole week.

"Hey Tomoyo, have you seen my shoes?" Sakura yelled looking around her room. "I can't find them". She was waiting for Tomoyo to come out of the bathroom, so she could get changed. She didn't know what type of clothes she would be wearing but she knew that it would be good even if Tomoyo made her wear weird things; they always turned out to be very stylish and beautiful.

Tomoyo was in the shower, "They're underneath your bed" she yelled back.

Sakura made her way to her bed and looked underneath, and sure enough her black high heeled shoes were there.

"Thanks" Sakura said and continued to get ready.

…

Downstairs they guys were waiting for the girls to come down. Eriol was enjoying watching cartoons on TV whilst Syaoran watched him with a scowl on his face and in a bad mood.

"I don't see why I have to go to this stupid party" he said angrily towards Eriol.

Eriol turned off the TV and gave Syaoran a smile. "Because you need to socialize more and because I said so".

A frown became evident on Syaorans face. "I have better things to do with my time, than go to a stupid party".

"Its part of your duty as a Clan leader Syaoran, you have to go and meet people"

"Whatever" Syaoran mumbled underneath his breath and crossed his arms. He looked up and started to stare at the ceiling. _Stupid Girls_ he said to himself and he closed his eyes.

Eriol did the same thing and almost fell asleep on the couch.

Silence had engulfed the whole room for a few minutes, when suddenly both the boys stood up abruptly waking up from their dreamy state and looked at each other.

"You sense that?" Eriol asked looking out the window into the night sky.

Syaoran nodded and became more alert. The aura became twice as powerful.

"Let's check it out" he said and started to walk to the door but Eriol held him back.

"What?" he asked angrily.

"The girls? What about them?" he pointed upstairs.

"We can't take them with us, they'll only be in our way" Syaoran frowned.

"Syaoran we can't just let them go to the party by themselves" Eriol protested.

"Well it's either that or they get injured, you choose" Syaoran replied and ran out the door towards the aura.

Eriol shook his head, it was a no win situation. If he let them go to the party by themselves something could happen and if he didn't let them go then they would be upset and mopey. If he let them come with him, they were likely get hurt.

Quickly he took a piece of paper and a pen from the table. He started writing a note and placed it where the girls could see it.

He ran outside and followed Syaoran towards the aura.

…

Around 15 minutes later the girls have finished getting dressed. Tomoyo came out first wearing a red halter neck top with black tight fit jeans which really brought out her figure. Her hair was tied up simply and wore little make up. She wanted to go simple yet nice and she chose Sakura's outfit the same way.

Sakura soon followed her wearing a pastel yellow v neck top, with white jeans that also brought out her figure. Her hair was down and wavy, fringe leaning to one side. She too looked very beautiful, with little makeup.

They slowly came walking down the stairs, so they wouldn't trip in their heels. They grabbed their purse and walked into the lounge room where they thought the boys were waiting.

"Okay, Eriol, We're ready" Tomoyo said, but no reply. She looked around but the boys seemed to have disappeared. "That's weird" she said walking around the house.

Sakura was on the bottom of the step and saw a note on the table by the door. She made her way to it and picked up the piece of paper to read.

"Tomoyo" Sakura yelled. "Eriol left a note for us."

Tomoyo walked towards her and looked over at the note. "He's got really messy handwriting" she commented and Sakura giggled.

**_Girls, _**

_**Left something, home, meet party.** _

Tomoyo rolled her eyes. "Some note this is" she said grabbing her purse and car keys.

Sakura smiled, "He needs english lessons".

Tomoyo laughed at the comment, "Yeh, he does". She opened the door for the both of them. "Come on, We've got a party to get to" she said excitedly.

Sakura nodded and they both walked into Tomoyo's silver mercedes. They fastened their seatbelts and drove off in style into the night

…

"Eriol watch out" Syaoran yelled to his cousin.

A giant beast shaped liked a bear with black and red fur and wings coming out from his back, threw a thunderbolt towards Eriol.

Eriol turned around and dodged the attack just in time. "Thanks" he said looking towards the winged beast. Syaoran ran over opposite Eriol so their enemy was surrounded.

"Pathetic" The bear roared and expanded his wings, sparks appearing around him. He then lifted himself up into the sky and started to fly away.

"No he's escaping" Syaoran yelled jumping from roof top to roof top, following the beast whilst Eriol ran by foot on the ground.

…

The girls had arrived at Sharna's party, and the music was pumping. Everyone they knew from college was there, except for some random people and they were given a warm welcome.

"Sakura, Tomoyo, Whooo!" everyone chorused when they entered.

Both girls blushed at the attention they just received.

"Hey Sakura, Tomoyo, I'm glad you two made it" said a female voice beside them.

They looked to their right and saw a short blonde hair girl, with blue eyes.

"Sharna, you throw the best parties, why would we want to miss it" Sakura replied giving her a playful smile.

Sharna giggled. "Thanks. Do you guys want a drink?" She asked

Sakura looked over at Tomoyo who nodded. "Sure, we'd love to" Tomoyo replied, "We'll just have a coke".

Sharna smiled, "I'll be back in a tick", she said before going into the kitchen.

The girls nodded and looked towards their friends who were dancing. Sakura could feel the music taking over her body. "Come, Tomoyo Lets dance." Sakura said dragging Tomoyo in the middle of the room.

Tomoyo didn't really have a choice on whether she should dance or not, but she danced anyway. Together they danced to their favorite music, letting the rhythm of the beat take control. They caught the attention of almost all the guys in the room who were eyeing and gaping at their every move. The radiant glow around them seemed to hypnotize everyone.

"Ahh you two were very hard to find," said a deep husky voice.

Upon hearing that, Tomoyo and Sakura stopped dancing and looked towards the man who had just walked in front of them.  
He was well built, with messy dark brown hair and aquamarine eyes.

Sakura, from the moment she saw those eyes, felt as though she was in a trance_. He looks so familiar_ she thought continuing to get lost in his eyes.

"Are you Tomoyo and Sakura?" He asked the girls.

"Yeh we are" Tomoyo replied, examining the man in front of her. _He looks familiar _she also thought to her self.

"Finally, my name is Jake and Sharna is dealing with a problem at the moment so she sent me to give you your drinks" he said holding out two glasses filled with coke.

Tomoyo thanked Jake and took the glasses from him and gave one to Sakura. "Have we seen you before?" she asked curiously continuing to examine him.

Jake gave her a warm smile. "No I don't think so."

"Ohh" Tomoyo said disappointedly. "Well as you already know, my name is Tomoyo and my friend here's name is Sakura." She said introducing them.

Jake bowed and looked over Sakura's direction. "It's a pleasure to meet such beautiful ladies".

Sakura blushed when he looked her way and he gave her a heart melting smile.

"I better go and check how Sharna is going. I'll see you ladies around" he bowed again and left.

Tomoyo waited till he was out of earshot, "That guy has the hots for you" she teased sipping her drink.

"Get real Tomoyo, we only just met" Sakura replied.

"I think that Jake gave us Pepsi to drink, because this definitely isn't coke" Tomoyo said looking at her drink.

Sakura looked at hers also and took a sip. "Yeh, it does kind of taste like it. I'll race you, who can finish their drink first".

Tomoyo smiled, and leveled their drinks so they were equal. "It's on".

"1, 2, 3, GO"

Both of them drank their drink as fast as they could. For such small girls they sure could drink fast. The glass Jake had given them was the size of the glass you normally serve beer with.

"I win" Sakura beamed and showed her empty glass in front of Tomoyo and then she hiccupped. Tomoyo poked her tongue out at Sakura.

"Hey here's drinks, sorry about the wait". Sharna said handing Tomoyo and Sakura another glass of coke.

The girls looked at each other weirdly and at Sharna. Jake had already given them their drinks. Sakura realized that they were staring and being rude, so she politely took the drinks from Sharna.

"Thank you " Sakura said.

"That's alright, well enjoy yourselves, and don't drink too much"

Tomoyo giggled. "We won't" and she watched her walk away

Sakura took another sip of her drink. "Tomoyo, this drink tastes like doctor pepper now" Sakura replied getting a little dizzy.

"Hey it does too" Tomoyo said taking a sip. "Another competition?" she asked Sakura.

"Bring it" Sakura replied leveling their drinks.

"1, 2, 3, GO" they both chorused.

…

They were half an hour away from Tomoeda, both out of breath from chasing the creature and for using a vast amount of magic. The winged black bear that was hovering in the air looking unfazed, lunged towards Syaoran and Eriol who were standing on a tall skyscraper.

They were several feet away from the ground and if they were to fall, then it wouldn't be a pretty sight. Thinking quickly, Syaoran brought out his sword and took out a piece of paper from his pockets.

"God of Thunder" he yelled and touched it with the tip of his sword. A massive amount of electricity came out of the piece of paper and hit the winged bear hard before it could get them.

"Argh" the bear yelled in pain as he was being electrocuted. One of its wings caught fire and scattered feathers everywhere. "Stupid Humans" the bear roared and lifted himself up into the air even higher. "My bosses plan worked, and my job is done. I will see you again". With that the bear opened up a portal and disappeared into it.

"What?" Syaoran asked running underneath the portal but it had vanished once he got there. _Damit he got away, _he cursed and clenched his fist.

"Boss's plan? What plan?" Eriol asked joining him with a worried expression on his face.

"I don't know" Syaoran replied with gritted teeth and looked up to where the portal was a few seconds ago.

Eriol didn't have a good feeling about this plan. He looked over at his watch and his eyes grew wide. "Holy, its 1 am in the morning, lets go and get the girls" he said creating a mini tornado and jumping on top of it. He didn't know that they have been out fighting for this long.

"Whatever" Syaoran replied and jumped onto the tornado.

…

Tomoyo's vision was blurry, seeing everyone as double and she constantly had to rely on the wall for support. She had been separated from Sakura, and lost her in the crowd. They were dancing together at one point and the next thing you know she disappeared. She looked over at the people in front of her. Even though it was 1 am, the music was still pumping and everyone was dancing.

She felt a light headed and everything around her started to spin and jumble.

"S-S-Sakura" she mumbled and sat down on the lounge, grabbing a hold of her head. She didn't know why she felt this way. All she had to drink was a few glasses of coke. She tried to get up again but it felt like she weighed a ton, so she stayed seated.

A man sat down beside her and put an arm around her shoulders.

Tomoyo looked at his direction and couldn't make out the figure since her vision was still blurry. Thinking it was Eriol; she leant her head against him, and passed out in his arms.

…

The boys had finally arrived at Sharna's house, looking worst for wear. Their clothes were torn in some place and they were exhausted.  
The music was really loud and everyone was still partying and enjoying themselves thanks to alcohol.

Eriol looked around but couldn't spot the girls anywhere."Syaoran, you go this way" he said pointing to the right, "And I will go that way, if you find the girls, ring me".

Too tired to argue, Syaoran nodded and walked to the direction he was told to go and Eriol went to his.

…

"Hey, Dave have you seen Tomoyo or Sakura?" Eriol asked a class mate who was standing by the stairs.

Dave shook his head. "Sorry buddy".

"Thanks anyway" Eriol replied and started to walk in the direction of the kitchen.

When he got there, it was a real mess and beer bottles were all over the place. The moment he saw them, he became more worried for the girls.

…

Syaoran walked around, having to dodge some of the drunken ladies who were throwing themselves at him.

_Stupid drunks _he said to himself and tried to look for someone who didn't look like a mess.

"Have you seen two girls, by the name of Sakura and Tomoyo? Auburn hair, emerald eyes, Raven hair, and amethyst eyes" he asked a man, who looked well built, with messy dark brown hair and aquamarine eyes standing by the stereo.

The man shook his head. "Nope sorry, I don't think I have seen anyone that fits the description" he replied and walked away with an evil smirk.

Syaoran cursed underneath his breath and continued looking into around for the girls.

Before he left, he looked back at the retreating figure of the man he had just spoken to.

_He looks familiar._

…

With each passing minute Eriol grew more worried for the girls. Sharna's party was growing wilder and out of control. He too had to dodge drunken girls and even drunken guys to get around the place. He quickened his pace and entered the lounge room. It was very crowded and packed but something told him that one of the girls would be here.

He made his way to his other class mates who was about the only one who didn't look drunk.

"Jason, have you seen Tomoyo or Sakura anywhere, Im starting to get really worried" Eriol expressed. _Hopefully he knows something._

"Sure dude, Tomoyo is over there by the couch" Jason said gesturing to the chair where a man was kissing an unconscious Tomoyo.

Eriol looked over at the direction Jason was pointing to, and he boiled up with rage and didn't think twice. He rushed over to Tomoyo in fright and lifted the guy who was taking advantage of her.

"Get off my girlfriend, Bastard!" he angrily swore at the guy and punched him real hard in the face. The man fell onto the table behind him breaking it in half. He didn't stand a chance against Eriol, since he was under the influence of alcohol. Gingerly he attempted to get up but Eriol walked up to him again and couldn't resist one more punch which knocked him out cold.

Eriol quickly moved towards Tomoyo, and tried to fight back his frustration.

He was furious and disappointed at the party, the drunk on the floor, the woman he loved and her best friend, but there were more important matters to concentrate on.

He scooped up the unconscious Tomoyo and made his way outside Sharna's house.  
He sat down on the steps and gently placed her by his side. He took out his phone and dialed Syaoran's number.

"What?" Syaoran yelled. He was really annoyed that he had to spend his time finding girls, when he could have been at home by now sleeping.

"I found Tomoyo and she doesn't look good" Eriol replied holding Tomoyo tightly, "I can't leave her outside by herself and I don't trust anyone else to take care of her".

Syaoran sighed and looked over at the drunken crowd. "Just take care of her and take her home, I'll go look for Sakura".

"But you can't by yourself" Eriol protested.

"Just do it" Syaoran yelled in the phone and hung up.

Eriol looked over at his girlfriend._ You've got a lot of explaining to do_.Once again he scooped Tomoyo in his arms gently and walked all the way back to her house, forgetting how warn out he was.

_Please Sakura be safe..._

…

Syaoran was getting really frustrated. For a girl who is mostly noticed by everyone in college, you would think it was easier to find her.  
He had searched the entire house now, and still no sign. _When I see that girl, she's going to cop it_  
It was 2:30 am in the morning and he was exhausted from the battle before hand.

_Where the hell are you?_ He had asked every non drunken person in the house, if they had seen her and surprisingly no one has, so his only and last option was to ask a drunk.  
He dreaded it but he had to, he needed some shut eye. He looked around the room for the most non dangerous drunk there was and approached them.

"Have you seen a girl with emerald eyes, auburn hair that goes by the name of Sakura" he asked a man leaning against the wall.

"Whooo mme?" the man asked pointing to himself.

Syaoran rolled his eyes "No to the wall behind you, off course you, have you seen her?" he asked with a frown showing on his face.

The man gulped his drink. "Y Yersh Id seeend her" he slurred trying to keep his balance. "Happpy Garl she is, Tolld me something about g going to visit treees, p parks and waterrrrrrr". After he said that he fell to the floor, passed out.

Syaoran left the man there and immediately made his way to the door and rushed outside in the streets, to the park.  
Who would have thought the first drunk he'd talk to would give him the information he needed.  
There were several parks in Tomoeda but there was just one park he knew that had water and was in walking distance. He quickened his pace.

He had reached the park a few minutes later thanks to his great agility and speed and cut through trees all the way to Cascade Falls. He was minutes away from the waterfall but he could hear the cascading waters. He stopped for a second to listen to it. Closing his eyes, he could feel the effect the waterfall gave off. It was peaceful and tranquil. He stayed like that for a couple more seconds, and the remembered why he came here in the first place.

He followed the dirt path until it stopped. The sounds of the waterfall was louder and the view inspiring.  
To his right was one of the most spectacular waterfalls you ever could see. There was one main waterfall and two little ones by its side. The lights shone on its water, enhancing the beauty of it even in the night.

Something from the corner of his eyes moved which grabbed his attention.  
From the moment he looked away from the waterfall, his entire body froze, and a feeling he had never felt before in his entire life enveloped him.

There in front of him, was a drunken Sakura swaying from side to side on the concrete bridge ledge, walking like she was on a tightrope in the circus, with her high heeled shoes. She was holding a drink in her hand and it seems as though she was going to jump.

He really didn't care about what happens to others, since he had seen many deaths before in his life, but something here, right now seemed to pull some kind of emotion out of him and for the first time, in a long time he felt something.

He looked down. Underneath her was a long 30 meter drop into below freezing, deep, and unknown waters of Cascade falls.

* * *

**Authors Notes: **That had to be my longest chapter yet. Looks like Syaoran is slowly starting to learn how to feel . SS eventually…. 

What's going to happen to poor drunken Sakura, and the unconscious Tomoyo? And why did they turn out like this?

Well your just gonna have to wait for the next chapter.

Read and Review

**Always Chikka **


	8. Chapter 8

What Matters In The End

Previous Chapter:

There in front of him, was a drunken Sakura swaying from side to side on the concrete bridge ledge, walking like she was on a tightrope in the circus, with her high heeled shoes. She was holding a drink in her hand and it seems as though she was going to jump.

He really didn't care about what happens to others, since he had seen many deaths before in his life, but something here, right now seemed to pull some kind of emotion out of him and for the first time, in a long time he felt something.

He looked down. Underneath her was a long 30 meter drop into below freezing, deep, and unknown waters of Cascade falls.

…

Chapter 8

Syaoran remained calm. He knew that he had to go and do something, but what?

He watched as Sakura continued drinking the beverage in her hand, and turned around walking towards him, on the ledge. She was humming a tune, unaware of his presence. She stopped at the middle of the bridge and looked down. Her vision was blurry and couldn't really see a thing in the darkness.

Syaoran slowly edged towards her making sure that there were no sudden movements to startle her. Inch by inch he got closer and closer till he was beside her, only thing was that he wasn't standing on the ledge.

Hearing a noise to her side, Sakura slowly moved her head and looked down towards Syaoran.

"W-What are you doing here Syaoran?" she asked sipping more of her drink.

"Sakura, get down and then we can talk" he told her calmly, but his gaze on her was intense.

"Why?" she whined. She opened up her arms so she could feel the slight breeze. "It's nice and beautiful out here".

Syaoran frowned, "Get down now" he ordered her seriously in a harsh voice. He didn't like this side to Sakura one little bit, but then again he really didn't like her at all.

"Don't tell me what to do" she snapped looking angrily at him. She lowered her head and the anger she had turned into sadness. "You're just like Darren" she whispered, finishing her drink.

Syaoran didn't really know what to say. _Did I just get compared to that idiot?_ He asked himself. He could feel the anger rise within him. The one thing he hated most was being compared to others. He was going to start yelling at her but he knew that he had to suppress it as anything sudden movements could send Sakura off the ledge. A faint sobbing broke his thoughts. He turned to face Sakura who was crying. "I did everything for him" she continued in a soft voice and more tears started to spill.

Syaoran did nothing but listen and watch her cry. _So she's human after all _he thought.Whenever he was around Sakura she would always be cheery and happy. She would smile at him even if he had treated her badly. He thought that she had always been like that and knows nothing about sadness, but here and now proved him wrong.

Sakura wiped the tears away and focused her attention on the sight below her. She was high up but since alcohol was in her system she didn't care and took a small step forwards.

Syaorans eyes grew wide _She really going to jump?_ He couldn't take that chance because it would mean he was responsible for letting a girl who everyone loved and adored die.

"Sakura" he said emotionlessly.

Sakura turned around to face him, her eyes red from crying.

"I'm not into emotional things and I don't like to pry in others business, but by the sounds of things Darren isn't worth it. I don't know why you let him get to you so much that you would want to take your own life. You're better than that"

Sakura stayed quiet and continued to listen intently at what Syaoran was saying.

"You have a lot of people in this town who adore you, how do you think they will feel if you died?" He held out one of his arms for Sakura to grab hold to. He felt slightly weird as this was the first time he had done it to a person.

She looked at Syaoran confusedly and then at his extended arm for sometime. She knew he had a nice side to him She looked at his intense amber eyes and could still see the coldness within them but with a flicker of gentleness. She gave him a warm smile and slowly reached for Syaoran's arm but in doing so she accidentally lost her balance and slipped, falling backwards.

"AHHHH" her scream filled the air.

"Sakura!" Syaoran yelled running as fast as he could to try and grabbed her but it had been too late. He was just inches away from touching her fingers.

"Damn" he cursed aloud. He looked down only to see the vague body of water and the darkness wasn't helping him. It was around 3:30 am in the morning, the skies were black and the moon was slowly disappearing for the sun. Syaoran upon instinct, he got up onto the ledge. "Here goes" he said talking to himself and he slowly leant his body forward and jumped.

The moment he landed in the waters of Cascade Falls, his body became freezing and he felt pain all around him, like sharp pins stabbing him everywhere making his breathing became heavy.

He made his way to the surface of the water and frantically looked around for the emerald eyed beauty. "Sakura!" he yelled as loud as he could but the sound of the waterfall was making it hard for him to hear himself. He looked around the surface to see if she was there but she wasn't and that could only mean one thing. She was underneath.

He had to think of a way to see in the darkness underwater and he had to think quickly. He had used most of his magic when they were fighting Tor the winged bear who had gotten away, but he focused on his remaining energy and murmured an incantation to stop time, for a few minutes. As soon as everything had stopped he reached for his pockets and took out a magical piece of paper. His sword appeared before him which he took and hit the piece of paper with its tip. "Wind" he yelled out loud. A big gust of wind surged through the piece of paper and spiraled into 4 giant tornados, absorbing the waters. Slowly the water level dropped until the bottom of the waterfall could be seen and there in the middle was Sakura, looking limp.

Syaoran spotted her and immediately jumped into the big hole where the waters used to be and made his way to her. He scooped her freezing body into his arms, and started to dash away back in the safeness of land, out of the ditch. He couldn't do much to help her here because his powers were weakening and he had very little strength left to hold up the tornados.

He had managed to run past 2 of the tornados but as his magic was being drained by stopping time, one of the tornados broke sending a huge amount of water came crashing onto the ground making big waves.

Syaoran cursed and started to run a lot faster but it was really hard as the waters had reached up to his waist. _Almost there_ he told himself. He was running out of energy, and another one of the tornados was starting to break sending more water into the big ditch. It was up to his shoulders now. He couldn't hold time any longer. Syaoran had reached the side of the ditch. He looked behind him and saw a giant wave of water heading towards him.

His eyes grew wide. With the remaining strength he had left, he used it to jump to safety just in time because the other 2 tornado's broken sending back all the water it had absorbed up.

Syaoran lay tiredly on his back, out of breath. He slowly turned on his side and looked towards Sakura's body. He quickly got up despite his aching body and checked her breathing. He held his ear close to her and he couldn't hear anything. The same feeling he felt before when he saw her on the ledge returned; only this time it felt worse. Immediately he started to do mouth to mouth resuscitation. "Sakura breath" he frantically told her and continued to do it 5 more times but she still wouldn't breathe.

"Come on Sakura" he said and tried it one last time.

Sakura immediately coughed up the water that was in her lungs and slowly opening her eyes. Her vision was blurred but she could make out the figure. "Syaoran" she whispered before fainting.

Syaoran started at her figure intently. This was one of the reasons why he didn't like to make friends or be nice to others. They were too much trouble, and they get attached. He had used an extraordinary amount of magic in one night and he used up the rest on her. _They're all burdens_ he said to himself. He stood up gingerly, bending down to scoop Sakura's freezing body into his arms. _This is going to be a long walk home……_

……

It was night time and Syaoran had just awoken in a grumpy and bad mood. He sat up on his bed and looked up at the clock. 7:00pm it read. Groaning he got up from his bed slowly made his way outside of his room and over to the spare room in Eriol's Apartment where Sakura was sleeping. He was too exhausted to walk to her house, so he brought her here instead. Slowly he turned the door knob and peeked inside. Sakura was sound asleep, tucked in comfortably in bed. He watched her sleeping figure for a few minutes. She looked so innocent and carefree, and even in her sleep she looked happy. Syaoran didn't get how someone could be so cheerful and happy, but when he thought about what happened before hand, it was obvious to him that there was still more to her that meets the eye.

DING DONG... The door bell rang. Syaoran cursed at the person who was at the door. Taking one last look at Sakura's sleeping figure, he closed the bedroom door and walked towards the front door, opening it angrily. He gave a cold look at the two figures in front of him.

"Eriol, This is your apartment, Why the hell you ringing the doorbell?" he asked angrily.

Eriol walked inside, "I left it here" he replied with his own angry tone and made his way to his room and slammed the door. It seems that he wasn't the only one who was in an angry mood.

Tomoyo walked in with her head facing down, not wanting to look at Syaoran. She sat down on one of the lounges, with her hands gripping her skirt. She could feel Syaorans cold glare towards her as he sat down opposite her.

He has so many words he wanted to yell in anger at Tomoyo but refrained from doing so, because it's inappropriate to use foul language in front of or towards a lady. He did have morals he believed in, despite his rude attitude.

Tomoyo couldn't stand the silent treatment the guys were giving her and her eyes grew sad, shedding a few tears.

Syaoran however was unmoved by her and continued to give her the glare.

"Tomoyo" a soft feminine voice spoke.

Tomoyo's head rose up and immediately stood and ran towards her best friend, giving her an embrace which she returned. Sakura had a major headache and she felt really weak somehow. All she could remember being around the waterfall and falling, which is probably the reason why she had cuts around her arms. She was wearing the same clothes as she was wearing yesterday, only she was wearing a big green t-shirt on top of it.

Syaoran stared at her and looked at his shirt on her and the first thing he thought of was that it matched her eyes. That was the only nice thing he could think of for that night.

"Sakura, thank goodness your alright" Tomoyo's tears continued to spill. "I'm sorry, so sorry" she cried hugging her best friend tighter.

Sakura's expression softened. "Shhh, Tomoyo please don't cry, there's nothing to be sorry about, and If anyone is to blame then it should be me. I'm sorry Tomoyo" she whispered.

Tomoyo gave a small smile, but as soon as Eriol walked out of his room, it soon disappeared. He walked passed the girls without saying a word and sat in the empty seat beside Syaoran, face looked distant and serious.

Both the girls looked at each other bewildered at Eriol's attitude. He seemed to be really pissed and Syaoran seemed to be even more so.

"Sit down" Eriol ordered, in his cold voice.

"I'll stand" Sakura told him, grasping onto Tomoyo's arm.

"I said SIT!" he spoke more loudly and harsher.

At the sound of his voice both girls jumped in fear and immediately sat down to where they were told. They have never in their entire life seen Eriol this angry.

The room was filled with silence for a little while making both girls very uncomfortable.

"I must say, I'm very disappointed with the both of you" Eriol told them looking at them dead straight in the eyes. "Do you know what drinking can do to you? It's okay to have it moderately but all in one night, just to get drunk" he continued.

Tomoyo gave Eriol a weird look. "We didn't drink any alcohol" she argued putting her hands on her hips.

_Yeh right_ Syaoran said to himself and looked over at Sakura's direction because he obviously knew that she had something to drink. He continued to listen intently to what the others were saying.

Eriol gave a small chuckle of disbelief, which made Tomoyo frown at him.

"And what is so funny?" she asked him getting slightly angrier.

"Nothing" he replied back, putting his hands up as if he was pretending he was defeated.

Tomoyo shook her head at him. This was one side to Eriol that she really didn't like and it seems lately everyone's other personalities is surfacing. She was glad to see this part of him though. She shook off her anger because this was going to get them nowhere, and she loved him too much to fight with him.

"Eriol please believe me, we did not have any alcohol to drink" Her eyes were watery and Eriol looked at her. The moment he saw her hurt amethyst eyes, his face softened.

"I believe you" he said gently giving her a reassuring smile. The reason he was so angry was that he was scared of what could have happened to both the girls if he and Syaoran had gotten there later. Also he felt that it was partly his fault for leaving them on their own. He thanked the sky's above, that they were safe.

Tomoyo smiled and gave him a hug which he returned.

"Someone spiked your drinks" Syaoran interrupted the couple.

"But who? We knew almost everyone there; they wouldn't do that to us would they?"

Sakura asked, joining into the conversation.

Syaoran shook his head at her, _So naïve_. He thought to himself.

"Wait no there wasn't, there was that Jake guy who gave us those drinks that didn't taste like coke!" she said excitedly as she thought she solved the puzzle.

"Jake" Eriol asked raising his eyebrows.

"Yeh, he who looked well built, with messy dark brown hair and aquamarine eyes. It was the first time we had seen him before"

_That stupid bastard lied straight to my face_. Syaoran grew mad at that thought because he had been fooled and made to look like an idiot. He clenched his fists. _I'll get him back. _

"If I ever see him, I swear that he will not live to see another day" said Eriol who also clenched his fists. "Im glad both of you girls are alright".

Sakura got up from her seat. "Im sorry Eriol, Syaoran for burdening the both of you. I've decided that I will not be going to anymore college parties for as long as I live".

Eriol laughed and was about to go and say something but was interrupted by Tomoyo. "Sakura!" she shrieked looking over at her best friend and pointed towards her shirt. "What kind of clothes are you wearing?"

Upon hearing that, Syaoran looked the other way pretending that he wasn't there. Eriol had noticed his movement and gave a playful smirk.

Sakura looked confusedly at the shirt. _Whose shirt was she wearing?_

"Why that looks to be one of Syaoran's **_favorite_** shirts" Eriol teased. He had emphasized the word favorite just to annoy Syaoran and seemed to work. His eyes were twitching and his cheeks turned a slight shade of pink, but it wasn't very noticeable to the untrained eye.

Sakura had a huge blush upon her face, and her eyes grew wide. "I'm sorry Syaoran, I promise that I'll wash it and return it"

Syaoran just waved his hands at her, turned his back and walked towards to the kitchen to make himself something to eat.

Tomoyo giggled and gave a huge grin towards Sakura. _Interesting_ she thought and looked towards Syaorans way, Very_ interesting. _

**Author's Notes:** Another chapter finished sigh how did you like it? Please review!

The next chapter might take a little time as I have kind of lost my inspiration in writing. **Gracias!** To everyone who had reviewed it means a lot to me and a special **Gracias!** to BetterDeadThanAlone and sakuraxsyaoran you guys are the best. Thank you for your all your reviews, I really appreciate them!!

Till next time,

**Always Chikka**


	9. Chapter 9

What Matters In The End

Chapter 9

Syaoran stood on the balcony scanning the city once more, for at least any hint of the two powerful beings he is looking for, but still to no avail. Taking a deep breath in and exhaling loudly, he ruffled his messy chocolate brown hair in frustration. He walked inside and sat on the lounge opposite to where Eriol was sitting, with an annoyed look on his face.

"I take it no luck" Eriol asked examining Syaoran's body language.

Syaoran shook his head.

"Don't worry; I'm sure they'll turn up soon" he assured and was going to walk into his room when the phone started to ring. Immediately he ran to grab the phone.

"Eriol speaking", he said looking all cheerful but as soon as he heard the voice on the other side, his cheerfulness washed away.

Syaoran couldn't help but feel intrigued at who could make his cousin turn all serious, so he listened carefully to what he was saying.

"Sure, Hold on" Eriol continued, and pressed a button. "Can you hear me elder?"

Upon hearing that Syaoran's face too turned more serious than his normal serious face.

_Should of known. _He thought to himself.

"Yes" came a strong, low gruff voice from the other end. "Syaoran are you present?"

"Yes Elder" Syaoran replied.

"Good, Now I have some news. Over the recent days magicians in different countries have been found bloodied and bruised, drained of all their magical powers. There have been sightings of five different types of creatures who are supposedly responsible for these but we can't be for certain".

"Does that mean the evil isn't in Japan anymore?" Syaoran asked in disbelief.

"That's the problem. We can still sense the evil there but we just don't know where. The elders and I are guessing that the creatures are doing the dirty deeds for the person there."

There was silence for a little while until the Elder broke it.

"Syaoran, destroy the evil and its creatures before it cause more chaos. At this rate if we don't stop it soon, it will have just about enough power to annihilate the world."

"I will Elder" he replied looking at the phone.

"Good. Everyone is counting on you." Was all the elders reply and hung up the phone, leaving Eriol and Syaoran to think about what was going to happen next.

….

The following day the four went off to college and were patiently waiting for their teacher to come and start the class. Tomoyo and Sakura were chatting and giggling away to each other whilst the boys just sat and listened to their high pitched voices.

Sighing at the amount of noise two girls could make, Syaoran took a quick glance at Sakura, who he thought seemed to be back to her cheerful self.

"Good morning everybody" the teacher interrupted.

Everyone turned their attention to the front of class and shock, anger and sadness came to the faces of four of the students.

"My name is Mr Reyes. Your teacher is very ill at the moment so for the mean time I will be taking her place", he said looking over at Sakura with a small smile.

Sakura didn't really know how to react but she suddenly became very uncomfortable at the ruby eyes gazing at her.

_Of all the teachers in this campus it had to be Darren_ she said to herself and diverted her gaze to outside the windows.

Syaoran and Eriol gave the man in front of them the biggest death glare that they could ever muster. They felt the uneasiness that Sakura was radiating and it took almost all of their energies to control themselves and not hit him.

Tomoyo looked over at Sakura, who had turned very quiet. _Poor Sakura _she thought. She will give Darren a piece of her mind later.

Time seemed to be going very slowly in this class. Sakura would shift around in her seat whenever Darren looked over in her direction and sighed every now and then. It was once her favorite class but now she dreaded it. After what seemed like forever to Sakura, the class had finally finished.

"Good Progress everyone and see you all tomorrow." Darren yelled out as everyone started to pack up.

Sakura rushed to put her books away in her bags and tried to make a run for it out the door but was suddenly stopped by Darren. She sighed and looked out the door to see if Tomoyo, Eriol or even Syaoran was around to save her, but no one was there.

"What do you want?" she spoke in a harsh and angry voice. It was the first time that they had spoken for a very long time.

"Sakura, please we really need to talk". He pleaded with her and started walking closer to her; however with each step he took forward, she would take one step back.

"Talk now" she demanded, her back hitting the wall.

"Not at school. Meet me at the lake by the old cottage at 8" his voice came gentle and soft.

"Why should I trust you?" she replied looking at him with a frown on her face.

"I just think we need to sort things out, so we all can just move on and live our lives".

Sakura thought about what he said for a little while about moving on. She didn't want to live her life afraid and didn't like the feeling of fear and anger, so she nodded and walked away from him out the door.

Too pre occupied with her thoughts, she had walked passed Syaoran who was leaning on the wall, cross armed by the door with his always serious face.

_She's too naïve_ he said to himself, hearing the conversation that happened inside the classroom. If he were in her shoes, he would have killed him a long time ago.

He watched Sakura's retreating figure.

There was something about Darren that really nagged him the moment they met. It wasn't because of what he did to Sakura. It was something else. He wasn't really sure if it was a good or bad thing but he had to go and find out.

…

That night Sakura told Tomoyo she was meeting a friend and would be home late. She suspected Tomoyo knew that she was lying but she didn't want her involved in the matter, for her safety.

It was very cold by the lake and Sakura didn't even think of bringing a jumper. She was too busy thinking about Darren and if it was really a good idea for her to come here by herself after what he had done to her.

_What if he was lying and is planning to hit me again? _She said to herself but shook that thought away, hoping that wasn't the case.

"Are you cold?" Darren's voice came behind her, making her jump backwards.

"Sorry" he said walking beside her, making her shift a little. "Here have my jacket" he said taking it off and placing it around her shoulders.

Sakura just looked at him and later nodded thanks. She was too cold to say no.

There was uncomfortable silence.

"It seems beautiful here" Darren interrupted trying to break the silence which was driving him crazy.

"Just tell my why I'm here Darren" she said crossing her arms and stared out towards the lake.

Darren sighed. "I know what I did was wrong and I know that I hurt you so badly. I deserved everything I got and more and I don't really think that I should be forgiven, but I'm asking you to look inside your heart and forgive me." Darren watched her trembling figure.

Sakura just continued to stare out towards the lake but she had heard every single word he had said. She faced him and looked at him seriously but her expression was gentler than before.

"Have you learnt your lesson?" she asked him.

Darren nodded. "The hard way"

"Will you ever do it again?"

"I promised that I'm a changed man. I could never do the things I did back then" he replied sincerely

"What if you did get angry and you lost your temper. Do you think you would resort to violence?"

"I would kill myself first before I do that", he said placing a hand on her shoulder.

Sakura heard all the things that she wanted to hear from him. She knew he didn't deserve the kindness that she was giving him, but life was short and they say that you should always forgive and forget and give people second chances.

She gave him a smile. "Your forgiven" she replied and gave him a hug which he returned.

"So tell me what you have been up to? What's happening in the life of Darren?"

Darren returned her smile. They continued to talk and catch up on the times they had been apart, just like the good old days, when Darren heard a growling noise in the bushes.

He immediately turned around and stood protectively in front of Sakura.

"What's wrong?" Sakura asked leaning to one side to see.

"Shhh" he told her and looked around to see where he had heard the noise. A rustle came and then all of a sudden a beast resembling a lion, with black wings on its back, flew out of nowhere and shot out fireballs towards them.

"Watch out" Darren yelled pushing Sakura out of the way and taking the damage.

"Darren!" Sakura yelled getting up from her spot and went to his side. "Are you alright?" she asked looked at the burns around his body.

"Yeh I'm fine" he replied and stood up looking at the creature with angry yet determined eyes.

The lion looked towards him and shot out more fire balls hoping to injure the targets enough to drain their energies out.

Darren had mumbled a couple of words and all of a sudden his eyes had turned purple and he shot back the fire balls towards the lion. He had brought out a sword out of no where, just like Eriol and Syaoran and within a split second, the creature had been killed.

Sakura looked at Darren in total shock. For all the years she had been with him, she never knew that he possessed such powerful magic till now. One question came to her mind. _Why had he been hiding it from her?_

Darren called back his sword and his eyes had turned back to normal.

"You're not hurt are you?" he asked examining her.

Sakura shook her head. "I'm fine" she whispered and stared at Darren's wounds.

"Here let me heal those" she said taking a hold of his hand.

This time it was Darren's turn to be shocked.

"Since when did you have magic?" he asked her, tightening the grip on her hands.

"I could ask you the same question…" A deep voice yet familiar to them came hidden in the shadows of the trees.

Darren stood in front of Sakura protectively once more.

"Who's there? Show yourself" he demanded bringing out his sword.

Out of the shadows, Syaoran walked towards them with his sword in his hand, just incase Darren decides to attack either him or Sakura. He gave him a glare.

"I'm not going to hurt her" he coldly spat out and continued walking towards them. "Now answer my question".

Sakura gave him a puzzled look. "Syaoran?" she asked him, tilting her head to the side. "How long have you been here?"

**Author's Note:** Sorry it took so long to update but I'm back now. So what did you think of the story? Darren didn't deserve a second chance but hey this is Sakura we are talking about.

Thank you for everyone who reviewed, you're my inspiration.

Always Chikka


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